During the docking of any large vessel, such as a greighter, fluid carrying tanker or the like, a number of elements combine to complicate the operation. Among such problems is the velocity of the wind acting against the vessel, the flow of the water about the vessel's hull with respect to the mooring facility, and the momentum of the vessel through the water. Further, the hull is often so large and unwieldy that it becomes difficult to maneuver it sufficiently close to a dock or pier that it can be readily made fast.
The normal procedure for mooring or docking a vessel of this type is that the mooring cables are carried to the pier from the vessel. The ends can then be fixed to an appropriate mooring or docking post.
Because these mooring cables are relatively heavy and cumbersome the practice is that a relatively light messenger line is initially passed either from the vessel to the shore, or vice versa. The cable is then fastened to one end of the messenger line such that the heavy cable can be hauled across the space between the vessel and the dock.
As the end of the cable is brought dockside it is looped onto the fastening means. Thereafter the crew of the vessel, by taking up the mooring line from the vessel, can controllably bring the latter into contact with the pier.
To lessen the physical impact against any pier the latter is normally provided with one or more spaced apart, resilient bumpers. These members are designed to absorb some of the shock of the massive vessel as it contacts the pier.
A particular problem associated with such a mooring operation is the weight of the normal mooring lines or cable which are at best cumbersome. Thus, the vessel cannot be accurately aligned with respect to its proper or ultimate mooring position. The messenger line must therefore serve the purpose of pulling the heavy cable along the dock edge until it can be looped onto its proper mooring post.
Toward minimizing the problem of bringing a vessel safely and readily to a pier, the present invention is provided. It is addressed particularly to a method for facilitating a docking operation while minimizing the possibility of damage to either vessel or pier. This is achieved by providing a cable guide means on the pier or dock, that can be provisionally positioned to receive both a messenger line and thereafter a mooring line. After the looped end of the latter has been secured about a post or the like, the cable guide is collapsed or displaced, thereby quickly releasing the cable so that tension can be applied to the latter without damage to the guide means.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method for simplifying the docking of large vessels. A still further object is to provide a vessel docking method whereby heavy mooring lines are guidably brought ashore from the vessel to the dock.